Many cultures believe when a loved one dies their body ceases to function but their life force, spirit or soul lives on, crossing into the afterlife. The Ga tribe of Ghana believes death is just the beginning of a new adventure leading to reincarnation. This African tribe doesn’t just mourn a loved one’s passing rather they honor their memory by celebrating the legacy left behind. The dead are honored and sent in style to the afterlife with an exotic brightly colored hand carved wooden coffin illustrating an aspect of the deceased life (“Coffins from Ghana”, 2010).
The idea of these exotic coffins evolved when a neighboring chief, inspired by the previous commissioned of a palanquin[1] in the shape of an eagle by the chief of Teshie, ordered one for himself in the shape of a cocoa pod. Regrettably, he died before he could see the work completed. Due to this turn of events the people decided to bury their chief in his cocoa pod. Later that year when Kane’s grandmother died with an unfulfilled dream of flying he fashioned a coffin in the shape of a plane to send her into the afterlife. Kane then decided to take on an apprentice in his carpenter’s workshop to concentrate on the construction of intrinsic coffins (Fall & Pivin, 2002). Unfortunately, despite how talented he was the man who started this innovative coffin making, Kane Kwei from Teshie died before he could really enjoy the success of his product. Instead their apprentices are making huge sums of money with each exotic coffin retailing between $500 and $700 (Wiafe, 2000).
To the people of Ghana these coffins are not just seen as a way to bury the dead, but they are also seen as a place to house them in the start of their new life. The creation process of a Ghana coffin can take up to a month to complete. Due to fear of bad luck coffins are kept at the carpenter’s house and away from the family home until the funeral. Ablade Glover, one of the artistic creators of Ghana coffins, explains the belief of the coffin acting as a home in the afterlife to its resident. This idea adds to its importance of the beauty. He further expresses the shame of such an artwork that took so much time and energy being hidden away and buried to never be seen by the living again (“Coffins from Ghana”, 2010).
Some save their whole lives to afford a Ghana coffin. There are people that see a funeral as just as important as a wedding, sometimes being just as expensive too. Ghana Coffins take on several forms displaying a person’s lifestyle or profession. A sewing machine may be carved for a tailor or a fish for a seaman. A man of wealth often has a coffin carved in the shape of a Mercedes Benz (Wiafe, 2000). It can also depict a vice such as a cigarette-shaped coffin expressing a deceased’s love for smoking. There are also coffins highlighting people’s favoritism of everyday random objects such as a Coca Cola bottle or an Air Jordan shoe. Dispositions can also be suggested with some creativity such as a pineapple perhaps depicting sweetness. (“Coffins from Ghana”, 2010) 
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